


Battlefield Camaraderie

by greygerbil



Category: Overwatch (Video Game)
Genre: M/M, Pre-Relationship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-13
Updated: 2018-02-13
Packaged: 2019-03-17 16:39:43
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,241
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13663032
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/greygerbil/pseuds/greygerbil
Summary: During a Blackwatch mission, Genji meets a Shambali monk who is as infuriating as he is ultimately helpful.





	Battlefield Camaraderie

**Author's Note:**

> For Genyatta Week 2018, Prompt: Nickname/Pet Names. Inspired by the idea that if Zenyatta can weaken omnics with his orb of discord, it should theoretically work on other machinery, too.

“Why are you still here?”

Genji stared at the omnic standing at the end of the alleyway. The long white robes with the purple circles and a set of metal orbs floating around his neck like a mala told him that he was looking at a Shambali monk. However, that did not give Genji a clue as to why the hell the omnic wasn’t a mile away down the escape route that McCree had secured with the police before they’d barricaded off this whole block of the warehouse district. Scotland Yard had given the order to evacuate an hour ago to protect people from an expected terrorist attack and give Blackwatch room to work.

“There were some who were too distressed to follow orders,” the omnic said, as easily as if he were strolling through a park. “I talked down those who weren’t acting rationally and made sure no one was left who was too scared to come out of hiding by themselves. There were a few.”

“And you couldn’t have gone with them?” Genji asked.

“I wanted to do a last sweep of the area to make sure everyone had left.”

_Idiot_ , Genji thought. What did he think he was, a cop?

“How kind of you, but now you are stuck. The police barricaded the streets and won’t let anyone out and I don’t have time to bring you there now to explain this to them,” Genji snapped.

“I had feared that might happen, but I probably have a better chance handling terrorists than the people I escorted out,” the omnic answered, calm as still water.

With a doubtful glance, Genji took in the omnic’s whole form again. He looked frail enough that someone might knock him out bare-handed. What was worse, the terrorists were a human-first group – you really only got them or crazy omnic extremists in London, a constant back and forth of senseless violence – which made him a prime target should they run into him.

“You might have to prove it,” Genji said disdainfully. “Come with me, idiot monk.”

“Alright, sir.”

Genji threw a cold glance over his shoulder. Of course the omnic had to talk back, too. He was well aware that his red-eyed mechanical glare and the tubes and metal pieces welded to what was left of his flesh did not make him look like someone you’d address as ‘sir’, and his behaviour certainly wasn’t giving the monk a reason to be so overly polite, either.

“What are these terrorists planning to do?” the monk asked.

“I’m not going to share confidential intel with you.”

“That’s fair, but I might not be able to stay out of the way if I don’t have any basic information,” the omnic pointed out.

Though Genji didn’t want to admit it, the bot had a point. He marched down the street, the omnic by his side, as he thought over how much he could give away without getting his ass kicked by Reyes. Considering the idiot monk was, in fact, an omnic, it was unlikely he was a plant. Human-first groups were usually too proud to involve bots, even if they probably could have hired the kind of omnic criminals who’d sold their moral compass a long time ago.

“They are going to blow up an omnic repair shop around here, the biggest in London, located in an old warehouse. I assume they hoped for collateral damage, too, but we doubt they will let this target go just because we pulled people away from here. They will still cause enough trouble for the omnics in London and the area by just taking out the shop, though.”

“I see. I imagine a big repair facility would also store specialty parts that cannot be quickly acquired. They could probably halt reparation on damaged omnics and even lead to a few final shut-downs doing this,” the monk provided.

That Genji had not known, but he wasn’t about to tell this stubborn fool that he might have bolstered their intel even in some small part.

“Regardless, we will intercept them.” Genji opened the comm channel with a thought; a receiver was welded to the inside of his skull and directly linked to his nervous system, thanks to Dr. Ziegler’s craft. “Leader, are you there?”

“You’re not alone?”

Reyes had noted immediately that Genji hadn’t used his name. They couldn’t go around throwing that out with civilians around.

“I found a dim-witted Shambali monk who was too busy ferrying away people to run himself.”

Genji gave the monk a poisonous glance, but he did not react, apparently unfazed by Genji’s disapproval.

“Great,” Reyes muttered. “We’ll stash him close to the warehouse but outside an expected blast radius. It’s possible they are sending smaller hit squads through the sewarage into the district, so we can’t let him get caught alone.”

There was a little shuffling at the end of the line before Reyes’ voice returned.

“Their main convoy broke through the barricade on the east and is still heading for the shop. Seems they’ll go through with it even knowing we’re expecting them. I assume this means they think they can take whatever’s coming head-on. Seems they caused havoc for the police at the eastern barricade, but I can’t manage to get anyone on the line to tell me specifics. Group up with me as fast as you can.”

“Roger that,” Genji answered and turned to the monk. “How heavy are you?”

“About the same as a human my size,” he answered. “Wh-”

His question was interrupted as Genji grabbed the omnic around the waist and jumped onto a shallow rooftop. He enjoyed the little voice-box glitch sound of fear that the monk made more than he should. The omnic was already in the way, he wasn’t going to wait around for him. As Genji let his gaze sweep over the collection of squat warehouses to figure out the best route to take to Reyes while carrying baggage, the monk turned slightly in his grasp.

“Is that a tank?”

“What?”

Genji turned around and that was when he noticed the light tank, too, rolling up the four-lane street, rumbling distantly like thunder. It was followed by a large off-roader.

“How did they... leader!”

“What is it?” Reyes asked.

“They have a light tank in their convoy, did the police mention that?”

Reyes paused for a moment.

“Not yet, but if that’s the fallout they’re dealing with, it would explain why their communication has been cut.”

“It looks to be in rather bad shape,” the omnic provided.

Genji took a closer look and had to agree. Aside from bullet holes, probably recent, there were patches of rust and fist-sized dents. The tank also veered slightly left and had to be course-corrected by the driver every couple of seconds, serpentining slightly.

“What is it?” Reyes asked over the comm.

“The tank doesn’t look good. I guess they couldn’t get a better one… or-”

“It could probably still bring down a wall,” the monk said the same moment the thought came into Genji’s head.

“I think the bomb is in the tank,” Genji said, after flicking on the comm system again. He could feel his heartbeat picking up, a mechanical pulse in his chest pumping blood through his leftover meat chunks and tensing synthetic muscle. “They probably want to crash in, abandon ship, and lay cover fire from the car so we can’t go to the tank and disable the bomb.”

“It’s good to know the anti-tank missiles would probably have been a bust even if we had them. Can’t shoot at the thing if it’s carrying explosives,” Reyes said dryly. “Can you figure out any structural weakness on the tank?”

“The front looks reinforced,” Genji said, hurrying on along the rooftop to keep up with the tank, pulling the monk behind himself by his wrist. That worked with their theory that it would barrel through a wall into the shop. “We should focus on the back.”

“Perhaps I can help,” the monk called.

Genji slowed just marginally. “How?”

“I have a… long-range feature to weaken structures, organic and mechanic ones alike. It works best on living things, but I can tune it to dead machinery with some success. I think you could take your sword to the weak spots in the back of the tank if I employed it. However, someone would have to distract the people in the car or they’ll surely open fire on you.”

Genji paused, putting aside the question why a monk would need any feature that allowed him to weaken structures, living or not.

“Leader, Sharpshooter, did you get that?”

“That’s a lot of trust to put in a random civilian,” Reyes said.

“Sounds risky, but I ain’t got a better plan, either, boss. Want me to try picking off the car? They’re coming into view now,” McCree answered, a slight static crackle mixing into his languid tone.

Reyes paused.

“We’ll have to get rid of their escape vehicle, anyway, that’s a priority… it’s your ass on the line, Genji, if you want to risk going head-to-head with the tank on the monk’s plan. Disengage immediately if it doesn’t work.”

“I understand,” Genji said and glanced at the monk. It _was_ a lot of trust, but he also saw no reason the monk should lie to him.

“I hope you’re as good as you say you are,” he told him after he’d switched out off the comm channel.

The omnic raised his chin.

“I would not have said it if I thought it was likely I would fail, sir. I don’t want you to come to any harm – though of course I can only provide limited help. It is still dangerous.”

“That is not a novelty in my job.”

A shot rang through the night amidst the noise of tracks and wheels on concrete and pinged against bulletproof car windows. Genji saw McCree balancing on a parked truck across the street next to a neon lamp, lowering his revolver as he aimed his next shot at the wheels of the car. Opposite of him, Reyes materialised in the shadow of a tree and then shifted, fusing with the dark, and came back into this world sitting on the roof of the off-roader, ramming his foot down to get the attention of those inside.

The car stopped with screaming brakes and the tank slowed a few seconds later, though it still inched on. Genji grabbed the monk around the waist again and jumped, placing him down on the pavement between two SUVs.

“Now,” Genji ordered.

The monk touched one of the metal balls that floated around his neck and then pulled his hand away, still grasping an orb of discoloured, purple air as if he had torn it out of the metal ball. Genji found himself briefly reminded of Moira’s experiments as the dark, round cloud moved freely, attaching itself to the back of the tank.

“You can go,” the monk whispered. “I wish you good luck.”

Genji shot out between the cars into the street and grabbed on to the armoured skirt of the tank with one hand to pull himself onto the back, the other drawing his sword. He scanned the tank briefly for the spot of armour over the engine compartment that looked to be in the worst condition and then sank his blade in deep.

The metal hull parted like it had been heated up to a melting point. Genji had no idea how that worked, but he was not going to question it right now; instead, he hacked downwards, as fast and as deep as he could, to the tune of iron screeching and machinery cracking. The air smelled like gasoline and oil.

As the tank stuttered to a halt, the top hatch opened to reveal one of the terrorists, but Genji had seen that coming. His blade jolted upwards, cutting a massive gash into the man’s arm. It was not the one holding the gun, though, and even as the man roared in pain, he put his finger on the trigger. Genji jumped, knowing the bullet would probably hit his hip or leg.

It did not and instead misfired into the ground, the sound accompanied by another scream of pain from above. A ball zipped by Genji’s head and then turned mid-air and flew past him again. As he jumped back to his feet on the back of the tank, he saw it move towards the monk, who reunited it with the others around his neck. He’d knocked the man’s hand away and thus led the shot off course, Genji realised. The time to be surprised by that was not now, though. The man in the top seat sat doubled over in pain and his gun had clattered onto the street, but more people were crawling out of the two front hatches.

Genji dipped down the side and sprang up on the other, hitting a woman in the back of the head with the hilt of his sword. She broke down onto the glacis plate as Genji jumped over her body and onto the man climbing out of the driver’s hatch on the other side. His right hand holding a pistol was flat on the hull of the tank as he pushed himself up. Genji stepped down on it hard. Bones cracked.

“I’d give up if I were you,” he said, his blade at the man’s throat.

The man followed the advice.

As Genji secured the two men with handcuffs, the monk moved out of his hiding spot and came closer to lean over the unconscious woman.

“Will she be alright?” he asked Genji when he looked down at him.

“She would not be the first I have killed. They are humans-first terrorists. Do you care?”

“I’m not omnics first, so yes, I do. About her and about you.”

It figured a monk would be worried about Genji’s soul, too, especially one as foolish as this one. He himself had long given up on it.

“I did not hit her very hard. I doubt she will be out for long,” Genji said, pulling her hands behind her back, too, to put on the handcuffs. “Your… energy. That is an interesting talent. You have good aim with these balls, too – for a monk.”

“Pacifism is the ideal, but I have found it pays to be able to defend others and yourself. Something you are obviously very well capable of.” The monk turned his head to look at the car. “Will your colleagues be alright?”

Genji turned to look back, too, and saw that one of the car doors had been wrenched clean off and thrown twelve feet across the street. He thought of the tendrils of void-coloured dark that Reyes could materialise these days. Those might have the strength to do that. He wasn’t so sure if he’d call that alright, but that was a different matter altogether.

“They would have told me if they needed help,” he said as he opened the mic to the comm channel again. “Shaprshooter, do you have the situation under control in there?”

“Obviously,” McCree shouted over to them, hopping out of the open car door. “Think we can’t take a bunch of insurgents? We’re professionals, after all. But you brought in an odd fightin’ partner, didn’t ya?”

He nodded towards the monk as he strode over.

“Well, can’t say I ever seen anyone take on a tank with a sword before. That was somethin’! We better get him out of here before the cops come in, though _We’re_ not even officially here, I don’t think the brass would think it’s funny that we got a random monk involved in the brawlin’.”

“I won’t tell if you don’t,” the monk said.

McCree grinned.

“I’m going to alert the police to sweep the block for terrorist reinforcements and tell them we neutralised the convoy,” Reyes said as he climbed out of the car behind McCree, a few black wisps still swirling around his head. “You,” he pointed at McCree, “are guarding the explosives and the prisoners with me. You,” he pointed at Genji, “bring that monk away. I’ll call ahead to the south barricades and tell them we go the ring leaders in cuffs. They can allow stragglers to leave the area now.”

“As you wish,” Genji said.

Together with the monk, he turned to walk down the street. There were still dark marks from the tank tracks on it. It was eerily quiet out here between the featureless warehouses with everyone gone. Genji also always missed the sound of his ears ringing after the chaos of a fight, but his new, mechanical organs were not prone to such weaknesses.

“He’s got an… interesting aura, your leader,” the monk said as they were out of earshot.

“I do wonder about that,” Genji muttered, before he could catch himself. This was not something he should discuss with a stranger.

“If your work is usually like this, it must be very taxing. That could change someone,” the monk answered diplomatically.

“You’re right.” It had certainly changed Genji, inside and out. “I guess I have no room to talk about anyone else’s aura, either,” he added. “I expect mine must be black as tar, or however you Shambali see these things.”

Genji was not opposed to thinking that the monk did feel or notice them somehow. If dragons were passed down through your family’s bloodline, it seemed _more_ illogical to deny that a monk could have spiritual powers, not less; especially if said monk also knew how to weaken metal until it broke like rotten wood.

“No, I do not think your aura is that of someone forever ruined. I’ve never seen anything like that, either. Nothing is ever so simple,” the monk answered.

Genji wished he could believe that.

They walked in silence until, in the distance, Genji saw police cars standing across the street and found himself suddenly wishing the way were longer. It had been a long while since he’d met someone new who did not wear an Overwatch badge. He was all work these days; bloody, dangerous work, the kind you didn’t share and didn’t get anyone involved in. The kind a monk should be kept far away from.

“What’s your name?” Genji asked, giving himself permission only to keep that much of a connection, a word to think of in his head after the monk had left. “I don’t want to keep calling you ‘idiot monk’ in my thoughts… even if you were unbelievably reckless.”

At that, the omnic laughed.

“Zenyatta Tekhartha,” he said. “I assume I can’t ask you to give me your name, _sir_ , but if you ever find yourself in a situation where you’re not quite so entrenched in secrets, perhaps you may want to call on me. Unless I’m travelling, you can meet me in the Shambali monastery in Nepal.”

“Do you usually invite murderers there?” Genji asked.

“A monastery can get rather dull, so why not?”

Genji found himself smiling behind his mask, perplexed, as he watched the omnic tap a police officer on the shoulder. When Genji nodded at them to let him go and the monk retreated behind a wall of riot shields and people in uniforms, Genji stowed the name away in his memories. He’d probably never need to say it out loud again, but he liked knowing it, anyway. Just in case.


End file.
